N wheeler



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

N. WHEELER. THREAD TENSION RELEASBR FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 434,037. I Patented Aug. 12,1890.

w ME W a I V NTUR WMRWM 267066581) VVI TNEEEEE UNITED STATES 'ATENTFFlCE.

NATHANIEL WVHEELER, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE IVHEELER& IVILSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

THREAD-TENSION RELEASE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,037, dated August12, 1890.

Application filed August 23, 1889. Serial No. 321,709. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHANIEL WHEELER,

of Bridgeport, county of Fail-field, State of Connecticut, have inventedan Improvement in Sewing-Machines, of which the following description,in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likeletters and figures on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object to provide a sewing-machinewith meanswhereby the presser-foot may be lifted and the tension on theneedle-thread thrown off when it is de sired to remove from the machinethe material which has been stitched, the movement of the presser-b'arto lift the PIGSSGPfOOl? and relieve the tension being shown as effectedfrom the under side of the bed-plate, thus leaving both hands of theoperator free to handle the material.

My invention consists, essentially, in the combination, in asewing-machine, of the following instrumentalities, viz: aspring-controlled tension device, a presser-bar, means actuated by it torelieve the effective pressure of the spring of the tension device as toits hold on the needle-thread, and a lever and connection to lift thepresser-bar from below the bed-plate, as will be hereinafter described,and as more particularly set forth in the claims.

Figure 1 in side elevation represents a sewing-machine with myimprovements added; Fig. 2, apartial front elevation of the machine;Fig. 3, a section in the line m, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a detail of thespring-supporting washer, and Fig. 5 shows the tension-stud detached.

The bed-plate A, the overhanging arm A the needle-barA eye-pointedneedleA, means for actuating the needle-bar, and the presser- This leverB, as herein shown, has pivoted to it at a one arm of the lever Bpivoted at the opposite end of the said lever having loosely'connectedto it a rod B which is extended down through a suitable guide a, and theend of the said rod is carried below the bed-plate A, in order that itmay be acted upon by or through a suitable pad or lever under thecontrol of the leg or foot, it'may be, of the operator, so that thepresser-bar and presser-foot may be lifted without the interposition ofthe hand of the operator. In this present instance of my invention thesaid rod B rests normally against a button I) of of the rod 1),connected to a lever b so located and arranged as to be lifted by theleg of the operator when it is desired to lift the resser-foot, byreason of the button elevating the rod B and through the lever B thefront end of the lever B..

I do not broadly claim lifting the presserfoot by or through a treadleor lever.

The presser-bar described has applied to it a collar, as 0, having aprojection 0', (shown as a screw,) which enters a hole in a slide-bar 0applied to the inner side of the face-plate A the said face-plate beingslotted, as at 2, as.

herein shown, so as not to interfere with the movement of the saidprojection c, and so,also, as to enable the collar 0 to be adjusted whendesired. The slide-bar c is slotted, as at 3, the said slot receivingthrough it a screw l, which is screwed into the face-plate, the saidscrew acting, however, merely as a guide for the slide-bar c as it risesand falls in unison with the presser-foot. The face-plate has a hollowhub e, into which is inserted and held snuglya hollow spindle e, made asa sleeve and provided with a collar 6, which bears against the said hube, the outer end of the spindle being split, as best shown in theseparate detail view, Fig. 5. This spindle receives upon it the twoliketension disks or plates f, between which the needle-thread is passed toproduce tension thereon on its way to the needle. Next to thesetension-disks f the split spindle receives upon it a springliftingwasher g, (shown separately in Fig. 4,) the said washer having two likeholes 8 to receive the two halves of the spindle, the narrow cross-barseparating the two holes 8 8 lying in the slit between the two halves ofthe spindle. Outside this spring-lifting washer is applied a spring 71.,the outer end of which, as herein represented, is laid into the slittedend of the spindle, the nut It being applied to the threaded outer splitend of the spindle, rotation of the said nut in one or the otherdirection increasing or diminishing, as it may be, the effective forceof the spring, and consequently measuring the tension upon the needle-thread. The hollow spindle 6 receives in it a pin m, the head of whichacts upon the lower narrow cross-bar 10 of the spring-lifting washer,the inner end of the said pin protruding through the face-plate A and inthe range of movement of the beveled upper end 12 of the slide-bar c Inoperation, whenever the operator lifts the presser-foot by or throughthe lever B and its attached devices, (or it may be through the lifterA',) the slide-bar c is raised, and the beveled upper end thereof,acting against the pin m, moves the same, viewing Fig. 3 to the right,causing the head of the pin, acting on the cross-bar 10, to force thesame longi-v tudinally on the spindle and movethe spring lifting washerand spring away from and so that they no longer act to produce frictionupon the plates f, and as a result thereof the needle-thread is freedfrom any tension or pressure between the said plates f, leaving theneedle-thread free to be drawn between the said plates without frictionor tension.

The presser-bar has connected with it a collar 17., provided with aprojection 26, which in practice enters a slot in a segmental gear 02(partially shown in Fig. 2,) which engages another segmental gear, (notshown,) but common to United States Patent No. 386,300, dated July 17,1888, the said second segmental gear having an arm n (partially shown inFig. 2,) which arm is extended outwardly through a slot in theface-plate, the said arm being moved, as described in the said patent,to thereby limit the extent of movement of the spring-like slack-threadcontroller, all as common to the said patent. In this way thepresser-bar not only controls the slack-thread controller, but alsocontrols the tension on the needle-thread.

The spring 14, surrounding the presser-bar and resting on the collar 0,is made adjustable by the usual presser-bar nut 15 to vary the force ofthe presser-foot upon the material. The presser-foot bar can rise andfall for varying thickness of the material passing under thepresser-foot without affecting the tension upon the ncedlethread by thetension device f.

I have herein shown the needle-thread as passed between two disk-likeloose plates f, which I denominate the tension device, but I desire itto be understood that, instead of the two loose disks, I might use anywellknown equivalent, such as a wheel having a grooved periphery.

The collar 0 (shown in section in Fig. 3) has extended from it aprojection 19, (shown best in Figs. 1 and 2,) which projection is actedupon by the usual presser-foot lifter A when it is desired to lift thepresser-foot otherwise than by the lever B.

The overhanging arm is provided with a pin 18, which acts as a stop forthe rear end of the lever B in its upward movement.

The rotating shaft D of the machine and the short shaft I) and-theunder-threadcarrying mechanism (not specifically shown herein) are andmay be the same as in the \Vheeler & )Vilson machine in common use.

I claim- 1. In a sewing-machine, a presser-bar having a collar providedwith a projection c, a spring-pressed tension device, a spring-liftingWasher, a slide-pin to act against it, and a slide-bar c moved with thepresserbar to relieve the tension on the needle-thread when thepresser-bar is fully lifted, and an arm B upon the said presser-bar,combined with a lever, as B, a rod B, extended below the bedplate, andintermediate connecting devices between the said rod and lever B, bywhich to lift the presser-bar by power applied below the bed-plate tothe rod B, all being to operate substantially as described.

2. In a sewing-machine, a presser-bar having a collar provided with aprojection c and a projection 19, a spring-pressed tension device, aspring-lifting washer, a slide-pin to act against it, and a slide-bar 0moved with the presser-bar to relieve the tension on the needle-threadwhen the presser-bar is fully lifted, an arm B upon the saidpresser-bar, and a presser-foot lifter A to act upon the projection 19,combined with a lever, as B, a rod B extended below the bed-plate, andintermedi: ate devices between the said rod and lever B, by which tolift the resser-bar by power applied below the bed-plate to the rod Ball being to operate substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name -to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

NATHANIEL WHEELER. Witnesses:

LoUIs H. BAKER, F. HURD.

ICC

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